Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and an image forming method that can use a plurality of image forming apparatuses to output a job.
Description of the Related Art
Currently, there is a technique of distributing the load of outputting a printed matter when a large amount of printed matter is to be output, and an example of the technique includes a system called distributed printing for outputting a printed matter at the same time from a plurality of image forming apparatuses on a network.
In selecting image forming apparatuses that perform the distributed printing, image forming apparatuses that can output the printed matter (setting of color or monochrome, presence or absence of a post-processing apparatus, and the like) need to be selected. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-208286, a color reproducible range is taken into account to select printers that can reproduce colors included in a print file in the distributed printing.
In the distributed printing, it is desirable to more efficiently output the printed matter and to output the printed matter with excellent quality. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-026175 discloses an image forming system for ranking image forming apparatuses based on indexes regarding the output capability, and image forming apparatuses are selected based on the indexes, such as print speed and image quality (meaning resolution), to distribute a job.
Since a plurality of image forming apparatuses output the printed matter, the distributed printing has a problem that there is a difference in the image quality of the printed matter due to the mechanical difference between the image forming apparatuses even if the image quality is adjusted in each image forming apparatus. The problem similarly occurs in the apparatus and the system illustrated in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2003-208286 and 2007-026175. More specifically, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2003-208286 and 2007-026175, specifications of machines are just compared, or ideal values and image quality of the image forming apparatuses are just compared. The difference in the image quality due to the difference between machines in the distributed printing is not taken into account.
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to perform printing while reducing, as much as possible, the difference in the image quality due to the difference between machines when a plurality of image forming apparatuses output the printed matter.